Thursday Night Ride, Le Deuxieme

it was a brisk and chilly ride last night.

attending were brett, havilah, charles, myself, and a new friend visiting from arizona, whose name escapes me, ashamedly. i was wearing a hoodie, though no one else heeded my call for a hoodie ride. that's all i'm saying.

we started off at starbucks as usual, eventually heading down to the phoenix to recover charles. the man had been off at some treehugger social, slurping turpentine and juniper juice with hobnobbers and scalawags all night. multiple urinations and a sweater grab were made at the phoenix before we headed off into the night. charles has an impeccably clean bathroom and a Lands End toiletries bag, for the public record. a man amongst men, ladies and gentlemen.

somehow it was decided that we would ride to BSC, immediately quashing any hope of mine for another rock paper scissors tourney. we went from the phoenix to 8th ave north, then across to arkadephia, through some of the most awesome paving jobs and housing projects you could hope to encounter. we received no friction from the fairfield friendlies, beyond a honk or two to encourage us out of the turn lane. oh wait. wrong. amendments to the previous statement:

"GIT OFF THE ROAD THATS WHAT THE SIDEWALKS FER!"

also:

"WHAT THE FUECK!"

once we reached arkadelphia road, we went up to BSC's campus, where we were passed through the guard station with little trouble. if you're a guard at BSC, apparently physically appearance is the only rationale for entry. bunch of white guys with glasses and/or helmets on must be harmless. good call. anyway, we headed into the lovely grounds, making a lap or two around campus before ending up at some little nature park. it was really peaceful, and there was a gazebo 'n' shit. all was quiet until a strange figure hobbled across the adjacent soccer field. it looked a bit like some kind of enlivened scarecrow escaping the farm, silhouetted against the sodium lamps of the campus. he was not seen again after he made it behind the treeline. farewell, The Hobbler.

charles then led us to this highly-engineered treehouse with a Love Blanket curiously spread out on one of the tiers. conversation was had, pees were taken, and after a long while we headed out. as we were leaving campus, we were harangued by one of the guards, a different one than before, about riding back to birmingham. clearly, he told us, it was unsafe to ride around like this because of rampant gang violence in the area and an FBI memo that backed this up. after said haranguing, it was decided that this dude was basically a rampant xenophobe, but me and brett were sufficiently freaked out nonetheless, despite both of us having made this ride a number of times already. before actually leaving campus, we did a ride through the Greek park of campus, which was the first mass encounter of brocycle vs. actual Bros. it went reasonably well, mostly because we got holla'd at by some chicks in an SUV, but havilah killed my game and it went nowhere. charles might have gotten some, but you'll have to ask him. he never left his bike, but as i mentioned earlier, he is a man amongst men and i wouldn't put it past him.

everything was ok on the ride home... no gunshots or anything. besides a couple of sniffly noses, the night ended without problems back at the phoenix building. another great ride with brocycle! same time next week, guys.